From our campsite we followed the Lakeshore trail on the south side of the lake to the dam. From there, the trail descends down and away from the dam to connect with a OHV trail, Slick Rock trail. We came across a couple that seemed lost. They had made it to the junction, but from the junction they didn't know which way to go since there isn't a sign pointing the direction back up to the lake. I didn't have a map, but knew the direction since I had memorized the map. We made a right at the trails junction, headed up the hill, past Emigrant trail on the left, and followed the road to the lake.
We then followed the paved trail that runs along the northern portion of the lake back to camp. At one point we were able to get a view of Inspiration Point.
This is a view of the direction of our second hike, Bee Gulch. After a good night's sleep and lazy morning, we headed off to explore the mountains north of the lake.
Our route was Bee Gulch. Since I had forgotten to bring maps on this camping trip, we didn't know the route, topography, and trails. This map doesn't show all the trails. There is a trail from Hwy 4, just west of the lake, to Bee Gulch called the Alpine Bypass trail.
Just after the water tank is the junction to the trails. We decided to explore the Alpine Bypass trail first before making the climb up Bee Gulch. That added another two plus miles to our excursion.
We passed by some Sierra Gooseberry plants. Thank God we didn't see a bear munching!
After returning to the Bee Gulch trail, the trail took us around some granite rocks, through a pine forest, across a creek, and up the side of a ridge for views of volcanic rocks. Rock formation similar to Inspiration Point and the Dardanelles.
Since we didn't know how much longer until the junction to the fire road and we were getting tired from the climb, we admired the views, noticed smoke just south-east of the Dardanelles, and then headed back down the trail to camp. Next time, I will remember to bring maps. Well, we have a reason to hike the Bee Gulch trail again, just to complete the trail.
On the way back down, we spotted this mushroom sweating in the hot alpine sun.
Back at camp, we rested before taking a drive east to see Mosquito Lake. We were lucky to get the same campsite as our last trip. All the snow had melted. Sadly, Meeks didn't have snow to munch.
In the morning, we awoke to a smoky sky. We started the climb up Inspiration Point, but we didn't get to the top since the view was terrible from the smoke and thunder could be heard in the distance. So we decided to head back to camp to relax a bit before packing up camp.
On the trek down, we spotted some lizards resting on this boulder. The boulder can be spotted on google maps.
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